This exhibition catalogue, published by the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, was released alongside the exhibition Cy Twombly: Fifty Years of Works on Paper (2003–2004) at the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg; Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich; the Musée du Centre Pompidou, Paris; and the Serpentine Galleries, London. It includes Russian and English translations of an introduction Julie Sylvester’s “Cy Twombly at the Hermitage,” Mikhail Piotrovsky’s “Twombly’s Graffiti,” and Simon Schama’s “Cy Twombly.” This is followed by color reproductions and a list of works exhibited. 

Piotrovsky’s brief essay focuses on the interface between American and European traditions of modern art and Twombly’s position relative to each. He writes that Twombly “introduces into painting the style of ancient graffiti…[and] links the past with the present” (iv). Sylvester’s introductory essay discusses the reception of Twombly’s artworks in St. Petersburg, alongside connections between Twombly and Russian artists such as Kazimir Malevich.

Schama’s essay opens with his frequently-quoted assertion that he “[has] always thought ‘Twombly’ ought to be (if it isn’t already) a verb, as in twombly: (vt.): to hover thoughtfully over a surface, tracing glyphs and graphs of mischievous suggestiveness, periodically touching down amidst discharges of passionate intensity” (XXV). He positions Twombly as distinct from each of his major historical and intellectual antecedents, in the process “tearing a strip off the tendency of abstract painting towards its own monumentalism” (XXVI). Turning to the works on paper included in the exhibition, Schama writes that “self-conscious prehistoricity disappears, only to be replaced, sometimes with a different kind of oddity” (XXVII). He then traces the intellectual and formal trajectory of the artworks at hand, positioning them relative to the locations in which they were produced and the antecedents Twombly alternately draws on and pushes against. Schama asserts that “Twombly remains capable of infinite self-alteration” (XXXI), concluding at last that through repeated synthesis and metamorphosis across decades “the good ship Twombly sails redoubtably on” (XXXII).

These texts also appear in French in the Centre Pompidou edition, Cinquante Années de Dessin, though Mikhail Piotrovsky’s essay “Twombly’s Graffiti” is not translated or reproduced. The Pompidou edition also includes essays by Jonas Storsve, Alfred Pacquement, and Roland Barthes that do not appear in the Hermitage edition. Several other iterations of the exhibition catalogue exist, but Hermitage or Pompidou editions should therefore be referenced wherever possible for greater comprehensiveness. 

Those researching Twombly’s works on paper may also consult: Cy Twombly: Works on Paper, published by Galerie Karsten Greve (2013), Cy Twombly: Fifty Years of Works on Paper, published by the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art (2015), and major monographs on Twombly’s practice that discuss works on paper, such as Richard Leeman’s Cy Twombly: A Monograph (2005). 

Cy Twombly: Fifty Years of Works on Paper (Munich Edition)

This exhibition catalogue, published by the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung and Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, was released alongside the exhibition Cy Twombly: Fifty Years of Works on Paper (2003–2004) at the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, the Musée du Centre Pompidou, Paris, and the Serpentine Galleries, London. It includes—in both German and English—Julie Sylvester’s “Cy Twombly at the Hermitage,” Mikhail Piotrovsky’s “Twombly’s Graffiti,” and Simon Schama’s “Cy Twombly.” This is followed by a list of works exhibited, a chronology of the artist’s life, a list of monographic exhibitions, and a list of monographs about the artist.

Cy Twombly: Fifty Years of Works on Paper (Serpentine Edition)

This exhibition catalogue, published by the Serpentine Galleries, London, was released alongside the exhibition Cy Twombly: Fifty Years of Works on Paper (2003–2004) at the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, the Musée du Centre Pompidou, Paris, and the Serpentine Galleries, London. It includes an introduction by Julia Peyton–Jones, Julie Sylvester’s “Cy Twombly at the Hermitage,” Mikhail Piotrovsky’s “Twombly’s Graffiti,” and Simon Schama’s “Cy Twombly.” This is followed by a list of works exhibited.

Cy Twombly: Fifty Years of Works on Paper (Whitney/Menil Edition)

This exhibition catalogue, published by the Whitney, New York, was released alongside the exhibition Cy Twombly: Fifty Years of Works on Paper (2003–2004) at the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, the Musée du Centre Pompidou, Paris, and the Serpentine Galleries, London. It includes a preface by Adam D. Weinberg, an introduction by Julie Sylvester, Simon Schama’s “Cy Twombly,” and a reproduction of Roland Barthes’s “Cy Twombly ou ‘Non multa sed multum’.” 

(Publication description by Jamie Danis)

Published in 2003 on the occasion of the exhibition Cy Twombly. Fifty Years of Works on Paper at the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg (July 8–September 21, 2003).

Cy Twombly. Fifty Years of Works on Paper. Essay by Simon Schama. The State Hermitage Museum, 2003. 148 pages; fully illustrated. Russian/English edition.